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This was an excellent program. Andrew was a very competent as well as caring and friendly tour manager who kept everything running on schedule. Day tour guides were most interesting and in some cases, especially Dennis on the Ring of Kerry, very humorous. this met all our expectations and more.

This was a great program. We were kept very busy and had to walk more than expected, but it was fine. Our tour guide and all the people who spoke to us were delightful and easy to listen to. We were very happy with this program.

Judith from Saskatoon,SK.
This was a very well planned and executed trip.Facilities,food,program and such all worked well.The group size also worked well....most mingled and many vibrant conversations were had.Sarah Clancy with her vast political and historical knowledge ,served as the consistent thread which brought together the many experiences that we had in the countryside.Sarah's stories warmed us, especially on the few cold windy days at the beginning of the trip.
All the expert speakers shared their knowledge with wit and humour.The archaeologist,who took us to the Burren on one of those cold and rainy days,even managed to have us laughing as we climbed through rocks, wind and rain.All very good.However, I would have preferred one more day in Dublin with one less in the countryside.

Ireland is a good starting point on foreign travel...since it is not so very foreign. If you are lucky you have a guide like Sarah Clancy whose enthusiasm and knowledge enrich your experience. If you have done extensive foreign travel you might find Ireland a little less scintillating than many other possible destinations.

Even though a medical emergency sent me home early, I loved this tour for all the reasons expressed by others. Sarah Clancy was just the best and all of our 22 participants enjoyed each other throughout the tour. Truly feel this is the way to really get to know a country and its people.

Great program. Cohesive, fun group, great sampling of city life and country life. Sarah was best guide I've ever experienced in many years of travel. Experiences like dinner in a private home, school concert, and lunch play were nice touches, as well as expert guides such as the Joyce scholar. It was delightful to visit the home of my ancestors. I want to go back!

The Best of Ireland was wonderful! I learned so much and had a terrific time. Our guide, Béibhinn O'Connor was amazing - knowledgable, helpful, organized, fun, and delightful. This is a trip that shouldn't be missed!

Go! Do not wait to take this trip to Ireland. Get to see the Ireland of your imagination. Green beyond belief. Moody at times and sparkling skies the next moment. Listen to the accents and good humor of the group leader and special instructors. Experience the beautiful island. Ron Koch, Apple Valley, Ca.

I loved this first visit to Ireland! Our small group became a family as we visited an elementary school, were invited to a dinner at a local Killarney home, had a few college age girls demonstrate Irish dancing in our hotel just for us as we traveled north along the west coast of the country and then across to Dublin. Each day was packed with beautiful landscapes and cute little towns where we had lunch and were given time to wander, take photos and shop. Our escort, Stephen, was everything one could wish for!

"The Best of Ireland...." program more than met my Expectations. I liked the mix of Irish history, customs, natural history, geology, archaeology, sports, and spectacular scenery that we experienced. Our tour leader was knowledgeable and informative, good humored, and sensitive to our needs. It was good to periodically be allowed significant time to explore on our own and to follow our specific interests.

Tony and Diana, Wyomissing, PA
We recently returned from The Best of Ireland Tour-magnificent scenery, great weather, a friendly cohesive group. The absolute best feature was our Tour Leader, Stephen Delaney. He was knowledgeable, personable, sensitive to our needs, incredibly organized, hysterically funny and extremely articulate-the gold standard for Tour Leaders.

I just finished the Best of Ireland experience. It certainly fulfilled all the expectations for my Bucket List. Thank you to Stephen Delaney for a most valuable and fun experience. Also thank you to RS for doing such a good job

This was a fabulous program filled with many activities and learning adventures. Our leader, Beibhinn, was so knowledgable about her home country and did an excellent job making us all fall in love with the Emerald Isle.

This is the first tour I have ever been on. We had been to Ireland before, but this tour provided the background information we missed going by ourselves. We made some very special friends on this trip and look forward to participating in Road Scholar tours in the future. Hello to all of you. We miss you!!!

This was an absolutely wonderful program. Lectures and tours were both informative and entertaining while the amount of free time to explore on our own was appropriate. The value of this program is unmatched.

This trip to Ireland was stunning and magical. Words you will hear and use over and over again as you travel through this place. The instructors were well versed, funny, interesting and the real difference maker in this trip. Our leader was the very best and I hope if you choose this trip, you get her!

This trip had it all. Beautiful scenery, flowers everywhere,neat,clean towns and lovely people. Our group leader, Sarah, was enthusiastic, knowledgable and funny also. Great group of participants. My 20th RS trip and it certainly met my high expectations.

I thought I knew Ireland...I did not! Just back from this wonderful trip...amazing land and seascapes. Such beauty! Plus creative introductions to the people, culture, history and literary giants of this country. Our tour guide was outstanding and the people in our group were terrific. Best tour I have ever taken.

"The Best of Ireland" is aptly named. The cities and towns visited on the west coast were spectacular. I gained a tremendous amount of knowledge about Ireland while being entertained and blown away by the natural beauty of the country. The Irish people were incredibly warm and friendly everywhere we went. Our leader was brilliant!

My first Road scholar trip was absolutely breathtakingly wonderful. Our leader baven was extraordinarily intelligent knowledgeable and helpful in every way. I loved this trip and I loved all the wonderful people that we met in our group. Outstanding !
The Irish people are so accommodating and friendly. The accommodations the food the road trips were fabulous!

This was a perfect trip and Ireland was truly magical. The people are wonderful and literally twinkle. Our guide pronounced Baven was perfect; intuitive, aware, friendly, and knowledgeable. Road Scholar does a masterful job with logistics and agendas and this allows the perfect amount of free time to explore on your own. I would recommend this trip with enthusiasm.

This was my first Road Scholar trip and I really enjoyed it! It was nice to have all the accommodations taken care of. Everyone in our group was very friendly and compatible. I enjoyed meeting them all. Our guide, Stephen Delaney, was delightful. The flex time was wonderful for down time or time to explore on your own. My traveling companion and I are already planning our next Road Scholar adventure!

Irene from Dallas, TX
Number of programs attended: 45
Date Attended: 07/10/14-07/24/14
This was an excellent program. I highly recommend it. Our group leader, Stephen Delaney did an outstanding job. He is efficient, knowledgable, helpful, and has a great sense of humor. His system for checking in at hotels is outstanding. He enjoys people and his work!
The local guides on this program deserve a mention. They were very good. They had lived in the area they guided in most of their lives and so were familiar with it's history and problems. Also with changes that had occurred and the problems they were now facing. They added a lot to the program.

This program is an excellent introduction to Ireland and its SCENIC highlights. The latter means it focuses largely on the West Coast. I recommend you combine it with independent travel on either end: 1) arrive in Shannon 1-2 days early to recover from jet lag AND to see nearby Bunratty Castle and Limerick before joining the tour back at Shannon airport. After the tour, stay on in Dublin several days to see more of that city and to do several excellent day-trip tours to major attractions near Dublin which the Roads Scholar trip does not cover. Combining the Roads Scholar tour and this self-travel will give you an excellent overview of Ireland in just under three weeks.

This was a wonderful trip to Ireland and our leader Alan Ralph was the best. He has a great sense of humor and was very informative. Our needs were always accommodated. If you are thinking of this program, don"t hesitate.

Our tour was led by Beibhinn O'Connor, the most organized and helpful person you could meet. I think anyone who has never been to Ireland or would like an overview of the country could do no better than to take the Best of Ireland tour. Besides the guides, lectures, and field trips, the accommodations and food were outstanding.

This was our 11th tour with Rhode Scholar and it was one of the best. The places we visited, the schools and students we met, the Irish host program plus the outstanding lecturers made this a delightful experience. Stephen Delaney was fun and everyone knew where to be and what was happening... a great tour leader. The flex program gave us all an opportunity to explore on our own and at our own pace. The group of 23 were congenial. It was fun to meet people from many parts of the country. Thanks for an outstanding program.
Nan Adams from Illinois

We just returned from spending two weeks in Ireland on the Best of Ireland tour. This was our first experience with Road Scholar and it far exceeded our expectations! Everything about the trip was wonderful--sites visited, people who lectured, accommodations, organization of the trip, and most of all, a very talented and personable tour director named Stephen Delaney.

The Best of Ireland led by Stephen Delaney is one of my best Programs with Road Scholar. Stephen gave us a delightful visit to Ireland, with a sense of purpose and organization which was truly memorable. I would recommend this to anyone as top notch.

Pat from South Dartmouth, Massachusetts:
Number of programs attended: 2
Date attended: 06/12/14 - 06/26/14
This trip was so much more than I expected. I loved ALL of it. It was wonderful to be near the area my ancestors emigrated from; the physical beauty of the country took my breath away; there was a wonderful balance of scheduled activity and free time with sensitivity to endurance and integration of information; the local guides were superb; the 'unexpected' handled with aplomb and delight; the food delicious. I will never forget the walk with our Joycean scholar through Dublin and falling in love again with Yeats' poetry being read during a candlelight dinner. One free night in Dublin I saw "The Aristocrats" at the Abbey Theatre. It was a special night because the President of Ireland's arrival was announced and everyone rose to greet him. Later I took a taxi back to the Hotel and heard the cab drivers' point of view!!
Thank you Road Scholar for giving us Stephen Delaney, our tour guide. He was a gem!

This was a wonderful tour in so many ways. Stephen Delaney, our tour leader was informative and very knowledgeable and had a great sense of humor. The countryside was breath taking and the local experts were interesting and provided great insight. There was never a dull moment. I would highly recommend this tour for a great overview of Irish history and culture as well as opportunities to interact with local residents.

Connie from Strongsville, OH
Date attended June 12-Jeny 26, 2014 This was my first Road Scholar experience
To quote the Irish' "perfect and lovely". This trip enhanced the sightseeing trip I took to Ireland last year, but going into detail about sights and things we just briefly saw last year. I travel alone but am never "lonely".
Wonderful experience.

This was a fantastic trip! Alan Ralph was a great leader and looked after us very well. He is a great problem solver, listener and teacher. We saw a great deal of Ireland, the seaside, countryside and cities. We had a great time meeting and dining with families. We got to know our host family and enjoyed a very interesting meeting exchanging opinions and getting answers to our many questions. Ireland is beautiful and I think most people would enjoy this program. There is a great deal of walking, so anyone considering this program should keep that in mind.

We loved our trip to Ireland with Road Scholar. We enjoyed the variety of experiences that were organized for us, the chance we had to interact with some of the local people, the beauty of the countryside and the friendliness of the people. Dublin was the icing on the cake -- a very beautiful and sophisticated city. Our group leader, Sarah Clancy, was absolutely fantastic -- a born leader with charm and wit to spare. She made every experience more fun.

This tour provided an excellent insight into the country, its people and their way of life. Beibhinn O'Connor was an outstanding tour leader and the tour utilized additional knowledgable local Irish experts every day. These experts were passionate and enthusiastic about their subject and their country. This tour is an outstanding way to visit Ireland and may you be fortune enough to have Bebhinn O'Conner as your leader

This tour was fantastic and our tour director, Beibhinn O'Connor was amazing. If you do an Ireland tour, cross your fingers that you have her! I learned so much about the country, the language, the politics and the social issues and saw just incredibly beautiful places and things.

What a great time! And Sarah Clancey, our group leader was wonderful…charming, smart and funny! For me, the best parts were the visits to the beautiful countryside and small towns. Our speakers were informative and entertaining and added immensely to our history of each of the areas we were in. I highly recommend this tour.

The Best of Ireland trip, the last one offered in October, was excellent and I especially want to thank our Group Leader, Stephen Delaney, for making it such an enjoyable, well organized experience. The trip covered the parts of Ireland I had always been most interested in and I was not disappointed. I was really pleased to have most of a day on Inishmore, Aran Islands, an exceptional experience. The group was congenial and traveled well together. We covered many miles but the bus travel is intermixed with plenty of opportunities to walk and there is lots of free time. A great tour.

The Ireland trip was wonderful and I am very impressed with the Road Scholar folks who put it together. It was a nice mix of scenery and history and culture, scheduled activities and free time, wonderful guides and lecturers and walks, picturesque villages and walkable cities, and great food.

My wife and I really enjoyed this program. The trip hit many of the highlights one wants to see on a trip to Ireland. The scenery was beautiful (you have to see it to belive it) and the people were friendly. We loved the history and culture experienced through our travels and the expert instructors. Our group leader, Hollie Kearns, was outstanding. We strongly recommend this trip to anyone who has an interest in seeing Ireland.

My recent trip to Ireland was incredible. The countryside is beautiful, the people generous and warm and our guide Alan was a wonderful young man who made this trip a dream come true! Thank you Road Scholar for a great experience!

This trip to Ireland was my lifelong dream come true. Everyone in my group agreed that we could not agree on the best part of the trip--every location was so beautiful. Our group leader, Hollie Kearns, could not have been more knowledgeable, sweet or caring. I have been thinking of everything I saw since returning home.

This was my first Roads Scholar trip and I was delighted with everything, especially Stephen Delaney's leadership, local knowledge and warm personality. He's the best tour guide I've ever experienced. Ireland is as beautiful, if not more so, than all the descriptions I've read. The other participants were great travel companions as well. I highly recommend this trip and look forward to more Roads Scholar trips.

This trip was exceptional. It is tough to come up with enough superlatives to really express what a fantastic adventure it was. It was fun, interesting, and educational. Our group leader, Stephen Delaney, was such a great ambassador for Ireland and for this trip. If I had gone to Ireland on my own, I would have missed so many of the experiences that Road Scholar had to offer. Each day was a fun adventure with experiences I never expected to have. Our fellow travelers were a great bunch and we had a wonderful camaraderie. It was an experience I'll treasure forever. I cannot recommend this trip highly enough to do it justice. Thanks!

Do you wish to experience the Best of Ireland? Then do not hesitate to sign on to this tour. For us, it was the Best of All Tours in terms of travel pleasure, value, quality and learning, all served up with an incredibly invaluable guide. Jack and Jill
Conomy, Cleveland, Ohio

From being greeted by name at the airport (I didn't have my Road Scholar badge on), to wonderful experiences with new friends and our group leader, to getting insider advice for my independent time after the program, this was far more than I hoped for. This tour made my first trip to Ireland an unforgettable time. I'm not sure how it could be better.

My wife and I just got home from completing, The Best of Ireland Tour. This was our first group tour and not to an area where either my wife and I have ancestry. However, we made life long friends we intend to stay in touch with. The food exceeded my expectations as did the quality of the educational portions of the tour with local experts! We'll be back! David and Barbara Hascall Eugene, Oregon

This is a smooth and well-polished program that visits most of the major sights in Ireland, as well as gems off the beaten tourist track such as Killybegs and Glencolmcille in County Donegal (which was my favorite). Our tour leader, Joe O'Regen, substituted at the last minute and did a super outstanding job and gave very knowledgeable informative talks about Irish history and culture. Overall, deserves a top rating.

Our trip to Ireland was wonderful. It was exactly what we hoped for. The accommodations, transportation, and pace were great. Stephen, our leader, is the best there is. He knows it all when it comes to the history and culture of the island. He also has a terrific Irish wit.
It is a trip for those who like the outdoors, learning, and living in the very friendly Irish culture. It should not be missed by anyone of Irish decent - even if just a wee bit Irish!

When we choose a Road Scholar program, we expect the best. The Best of Ireland was truly the best.
We also receive companionship from the participants that can be even better than the program. People who look at the world as an experience to be treasured are also those who look at one another as an opportunity to become friends
Hopefully more and more programs like The Best of Ireland will appear in our catalogs

You name it: small towns, rural villages, breath-taking scenery, the cultural center of Ireland, history, and more. It was all there for us. Great leader and great guest experts accompanied us around this beautiful island gem. Fantastic trip!

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*Please note that due to the nature of some programs, the remote location or government regulations, listening devices may not be available. If you’d like to know for sure if your program will offer listening devices, just call and ask an Advisor!